2026 presidential election: CENA reminds of the conditions for modifying a candidacy

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This provision, now central to the candidacy submission procedure, defines the required documents to be provided and strictly frames the conditions under which a candidacy may be modified.

According to the article, any presidential election candidacy, notably for the president and vice-president ticket, must include a certificate of nationality, a criminal record extract (Bulletin No. 3) dated less than three months, a tax clearance certificate covering the last three years, as well as the endorsements issued by the CENA.

But it is above all the final provision of the text that draws attention. From now on, no change of candidate is allowed, except in the event of the death of a member of an already registered ticket.

In other words, once the candidacy is validated, neither withdrawal, replacement, nor swapping of the ticket’s order is possible. CENA also emphasizes that any correction to a file cannot affect the order of the candidacies, thus blocking any attempt at political or strategic readjustment after filing.

The new Article 41 also sets the verification and validation deadlines for candidacies. This period is set at eight days for the presidential election, and fifteen days for legislative and municipal elections.

In case of irregularity or missing document, the candidate or party concerned has 72 hours to regularize the situation, failing which the file is rejected.

This clarification comes as the April 12, 2026 presidential election approaches rapidly. Five candidate tickets have been registered by the CENA:

Romuald Wadagni – Mariam Chabi Talata, for the presidential majority ;

Paul Hounkpè – Judicaël Hounwanou, for the FCBE ;

Renaud Agbodjo – Bonaventure Lodjou, for Les Démocrates ;

Prince Anatole Ouinsavi – Agathe Bello, independent candidacy ;

Élisabeth Agbossaga – Boni Néto Gansaré, citizen candidacy.